Data is King, Knowledge is Power

I can't tell you which brand it was, but I heard a story recently of a major sponsor in a sport that is close to  my heart, that is realigning it's sponsorship portfolio into properties and programmes where (detailed) data is available from the rightsholder for the sponsor to use as part of it's CRM and digital marketing plans.

I'm hearing terms in my job at the moment like 'programmatic', and 'behavioral' targeting' - these are phrases I'm used to hearing when talking about online advertising - not necessarily when it comes to (sports) sponsorship.

It just shows to me how much sponsorship is now seen by brands as an effective and important marketing channel, and hence forward thinking marketeers want to integrate sponsorships into their entire marketing programme, rather than have it sitting as a 'nice to have' at the bottom of the plan.

So what does this new data-driven world mean for rightsholders? Well, that's clear - you need to have a relationship with your fans, spectators, visitors - and within this relationship you need to either own data that allows your sponsors to speak to these people, or have the ability for your sponsors to engage with them. And in an ideal world, this data can be integrated into the sponsors existing CRM strategy.

Thinking about where this can lead - will sponsors start to value a potential sponsorship, not on media value, but on the value of the data that the rightsholder owns? My guess is that this is already happening.

And what does this mean for cycling? In the absence of paying spectators, this becomes a challenge for the event organisers. Not so much for the teams though - and in this new world where data is so important, the creation of Velon, the body that now represents 11 of the World Tour Teams, could be a stroke of absolute genius. Not only are they producing and owning content, but they can also start to aggregate their fanbases into one, big, cycling mad, audience segment - a valuable group of people to advertisers.

Preaching to the converted is a good thing

As someone who has worked in marketing for nearly 20 years now (gulp!!!), as justification for changing strategy or plan, I have heard the expression ‘well we’re just preaching to the converted’ many times – and each time I hear it I get more and more angry.

I heard it recently as a justification to reduce, and I guess to ultimately withdraw from, an entire long term sponsorship programme. What a load of nonsense.

The view I take is this. Marketing is basically about relationship building. A brand wants to build a relationship with a consumer, in order to convince that consumer to buy the brand’s products now and in the future. Marketing is the way the brand develops and builds that relationship. And within that, sponsorship can be one of the very best ways of developing that relationship because often relationships are built on shared passions. If you no longer share interests or passions, then the relationship is going to suffer.

It’s just like relationships between people. If we maintain a constant dialogue, and share interests and passions, then we’re going to get along. But if, all of a sudden, your friends stops phoning you, and decides they’re not into football any more, but actually they’re into sailing, then the chances are you’re going to see less of them and you’re not going to phone them. Well it’s just the same with brands, consumers and sponsorship. If you pull out of a sponsorship, then the fans of that event, team or sport are unlikely to have the same relationship with you any more – and guess what, they’re not going to buy your product in the same quantity as they used to.

It’s fair enough to think that you’ve reached the maximum potential with a group of consumers, but if you end the relationship with them, then they will go elsewhere. Why not start to think how you can grow that number of consumers? How can you help the event or the team you sponsor grow the number of fans or spectators? Or, can you convert some of your other customers into fans or spectators? Either of these will ultimately bring additional business benefits to you.

I don’t know who it was who said it, but if you’re ever thinking of pulling out of a sponsorship because you feel the job is done then just think of this:

It can be 10 times more expensive to attract new customers, than it is to retain existing ones.

5 tips for successful sponsorship proposals

I get a multitude of approaches from teams, events, shows, charities, individuals and businesses seeking sponsorship - probably around one per day on average. Over the years that is a large number of documents, decks, emails etc that I have had to read.

I would have said that over the last three years, whilst I've been working with Skoda, I could probably count on one hand, the number that I have actually considered to be appropriate to Skoda's business. That means there are hundreds that I would consider to be a waste of both my time, and also the sponsorship seeker's time. That is possibly thousands of wasted man hours.

So what is it about the proposals that I get that make them 'appropriate'? Here's a list of 5 do's:

1. At Skoda we have a 2 page document that we can send to sponsorship seekers that lists our marketing and sponsorship objectives, processes etc - it basically tells them what we're looking for. So get on the phone, or send an email and try to find out what the sponsor is looking for. They will probably be able to tell you in about 5 minutes. One benefit of doing this is that you'll be able to quickly figure out if it's worth pursing this sponsor, or if, in fact, you are not well suited to their needs, and therefore don't need to waste your (and their) time pulling together a proposal.

2. Take the information you've found out, and pull together a bespoke proposal for the sponsor. Don't send a generic deck on it's own - ensure that if you do have a generic 'deck' that you also pull together a specific bespoke proposal for the potential sponsor.

3. Ensure the proposal includes several activation ideas that the sponsor could tap straight into. The current trend is for social media and content activation - so probably a good idea to include some ideas around those themes. This shows that you are keen to help the brand make the sponsorship work. That you'll work with them, and not just take their money and then leave them to activate alone.

4. Talk about your fans, your members, your spectators and how you can help the sponsor engage with them - after all, that's the point of sponsorship - to tap into a fan's passion and to improve the experience.

5. Do include, where you can, estimated media coverage, numbers of fans, spectators etc that will be engaged with, and how often. Even though most sponsorships do not have success metrics that include media coverage, this information can be useful when the sponsor initially is 'selling' the concept in internally.

So that's 5 do's. I promise that if you follow these suggestions you will have a great deal more success with your proposals, and also save yourself a lot of wasted time.